ACLU of Kansas reminds Leavenworth County Commission of CoreCivic’s horrendous human rights track record

Amidst private prison corporation CoreCivic’s most recent efforts to reopen their detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, the ACLU of Kansas is urging the Leavenworth County Commission to remember what led the U.S. Marshall’s Service to end its contract with the facility in 2021.

September 6, 2023 4:00 pm

ACLU of Kansas reminds Leavenworth County Commission of CoreCivic’s horrendous human rights track record

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 6, 2023

CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, Communications Director, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]

LEAVENWORTH, KAN. – Amidst private prison corporation CoreCivic’s most recent efforts to reopen their detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, the ACLU of Kansas is urging the Leavenworth County Commission to remember what led the U.S. Marshall’s Service to end its contract with the facility in 2021.

“We are hopeful that the Commission does not have as short of a memory as CoreCivic seems to hope it does,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “The people who suffered through the facility’s conditions of extreme violence, whether as staff or as residents, have definitely not forgotten—and neither have the families and community that witnessed it all.”

In 2021, the ACLU of Kansas was one of the ACLU affiliates and public defenders’ offices in four states that signed a letter urging the White House to ensure the facility was shut down by the end of the year, when CoreCivic’s contract ended.

“As described in our letter, CoreCivic is plainly unable to run a facility that meets even the bare minimum standards afforded by our Constitution,” said Sharon Brett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “CoreCivic demonstrated a consistent and deliberate indifference to mitigating the dangerous and unconstitutional conditions in the Leavenworth facility, as it has elsewhere in the country. The Leavenworth Government should not invite CoreCivic back to once again abuse individuals’ human and civil rights. The constitutional imperatives that CoreCivic is incapable of following remain, and we urge the Commission to reject their bid to get back in business in Kansas.”

The ACLU of Kansas is also urging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, not to engage with CoreCivic for any plans in Leavenworth.

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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.

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